Conventional systems for transmitting information to pedestrians include mobile telephones, portable computers, portable information communication systems linking a mobile telephone and a portable computer, and car navigation systems used in a detachable manner as route guidance systems for pedestrians or motorcycle riders. Information is made available in multimedia forms. These systems are ushering in an era where users can obtain desired multimedia information anytime, anywhere.
The basic assumption for such systems is that users on the move come to a stop when performing necessary manipulations to exchange information; information cannot be sent or received by users who are still on the move or at work. Transmitted information is received and reproduced with its attributes (images, text, patterns, voice, etc.) unmodified (i.e., image-attribute information is received as images, text information as text, pattern information as patterns, voice information as voice). The attribute-bound nature of reproduction has made it difficult for traveling or working users of the system to send or receive information adequately. The system also has had difficulty in effectively transmitting information to visually, auditorily or otherwise disabled users.
Route guidance systems based on transmitted information utilize the type of information employed by car navigation systems. For that reason, pedestrians using such systems have not received information detailed enough to navigate them through, say, the interior of a building.